A television advert for ice cream is set to be broadcast entirely in the Cornish language.

Said to be a world first, the 30-second spot (which you can watch below) is for Cornish ice-cream company Kelly's and is aimed at celebrating the region's heritage and raising awareness of the little-spoken Celtic language.

Though a couple of English words come in for the names of the new flavours, a man shown serving ice cream in the lush landscape of the south-western county speaks in Cornish for the duration, before the tag line ‘Kelly's: Cornish for ice cream’ is read out in English.

The advert is thought to be a world first

The ad is set to be shown during prime time on ITV and Channel 4 from 23 May.

Cornish was recognised under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 2003, but many were angered last month when funding to “support the development of the language” was cut by the UK government.

Kelly's, a family-run company that's made Cornish ice cream in the county using local ingredients for more than 100 years, worked with The Cornish Language Partnership to also develop a light-hearted phrase book, with key lines such as “Eat up, it's melting!” and “At least two scoops, please” (“diw loyas dhe’n lyha mar pleg”).

Kelly's has been producing Cornish ice cream made from local ingredients for decades

Mark Trevethan, of The Cornish Language Partnership, says: “Although they're fun and entertaining, there's also a serious point being made about the important role of language in celebrating culture and heritage.

“We're looking forward to hearing Cornish spoken on national television in an advert for the first time.”

Charlotte Hambling, head of marketing at Kelly’s parent company R&R Ice Cream, says the ad was designed to showcase “a strong link to [Kelly’s] heritage, while also supporting the movement to speak Cornish.

“We hope our cheeky Cornish chap will make people smile whilst also driving home a more serious message.”

Watch the ad below. FYI, find the English translation of the advert after the video.

There’s a new range of Kelly’s Cornish ice cream available that is as tasty as. You’ll find all our parlour favourites, including, Honeycomb Crunch, Praline Caramel and even Berry Eton Mess. It’s all made with clotted cream (from local cows). And what’s more, they’re in your local supermarket, meaning you can take home six new parlour flavours ... geddon! (slang for go for it/get on)

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Amy Swales

Amy Swales is a freelance writer who likes to eat, drink and talk about her dog. She will continue to plunder her own life and the lives of her loved ones for material in the name of comedy, catharsis and getting pictures of her dog on the internet.